The Powell High School boys’ track and field team used five first place finishes to place second in its opening meet, as the Panthers pre-qualified three athletes in five events.

Those qualifications came in both the track and field events, as Sawyer Wormald won the 300 meter hurdles in 41.29 seconds and tied for second in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 16.01 seconds; Braxton Nelson earned two qualifying marks, as he won the long jump with a leap of 21 feet, 11 inches, and placed fifth in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.64 seconds.

“Automatic qualifiers are always impressive, but to get multiple AQ’s in the first meet like Braxton and Sawyer did is remarkable,” coach Scott Smith said. “It makes it more special when it comes from kids that weren’t doing indoor, so to pick back up their technique that quickly in multiple events spells great things are still ahead.”

Powell’s final qualification  came in the 4x100 relay, as the team of Lincoln Crawford, Nelson, Karcher Foley and Breckyn Kobbe won with a time of 44.58 seconds.

The other two victories came from Colin Walker in the 3200 meters with a time of 11:28.12 and Nelson in the high jump clearing 5-11.

Additional top five finishes came from Korbyn Warren, who was second in the 1600 meters (4:46.56) and fourth in the 800 meters (2:11.69); Kooper Arends was third in the 3200 meters (12:20.62); Caden Nelson took fourth in the long jump (20-9) and Brady Harvey was fourth in the discus (131-7).

Other finishes in the top eight scoring points included Cobey Khan, who took sixth in the 100 meters (11.75); Brayden Benander was sixth in the 400 meters (53.64); Walker was sixth in the 1600 meters (5:04.38); Foley was sixth in the long jump (19-9 1/4) and seventh in the 200 meters (24.05); and Crawford took seventh in the 110 meter hurdles (17.06).

“The boys showed more depth than I would have predicted against great competition,” Smith said. “This is a very young team and they got out and competed very well against a very talented field at this meet.”

As a team the Panthers were second with 112 points, six ahead of Thermopolis in third but well behind host and winner Cody which had 154.

Powell heads back on the road to Worland on Thursday for the D&D Invitational.

Teams currently registered include 3A teams of Powell, Cody, Worland and Buffalo, 2A Thermopolis, 1A teams Burlington, Shoshoni and Ten Sleep as well as 4A Green River.

“The second meet is the meet where kids learn from their mistakes in the first meet and improve from that,” Smith said. “A short week of practice with a Thursday meet scheduled means a little conditioning and more work on the mental part of their events.”

CODY INVITATIONAL

* Denotes state qualifying mark

Team scores — 1. Cody 154, 2. Powell 112, 3. Thermopolis 106, 4. Riverton 82, 5. Lovell 61, 6. Campbell County 49.5, 7. Worland 40.5

100 meter dash — 5. Braxton Nelson 11.64*, 6. Cobey Khan 11.75, T9. Breckyn Kobbe 11.9, T12. Lincoln Crawford 11.93, T17. Harper Havron 11.99, 31. David Stearns 12.34, 33. Tristin Winninger 12.42, 41. David Yates 12.64, 42. Braxton Batt 12.65, 59. Tucker Phillips 13.31, 72. Austin Weller 14.02

200 meters — 7. Karcher Foley 24.05, 13. David Stearns 24.64, 14. Lincoln Crawford 24.65, 19. Breckyn Kobbe 25.23, 21. Harper Havron 25.53, 35. Tucker Phillips 27.48, 52. Austin Weller 31.68

400 meters — 6. Brayden Benander 53.64, 14. Thomas Shuman 58.79, 19. Cash Peterson 1:02.39, 30. Austin Weller 1:12.82

800 meters — 4. Korbyn Warren 2:11.69, 11. Alex Werner 2:15.17, 15. Michael Stensing 2:22.49, 19. Thomas Shuman 2:31.89, 20. Nathan Varian 2:37.19, 22. Karson Howe 2:44.14

1600 meters — 2. Korbyn Warren 4:46.56, 6. Colin Walker 5:04.38, 10. Michael Stensing 5:14.87, 12. Karson Howe 5:39.48, 13. Nathan Varian 5:44.72, 15. Kooper Arends 5:58.31

3200 meters — 1. Colin Walker 11:28.12, 3. Kooper Arends 12:20.62

110 meter hurdles — T2. Sawyer Wormald 16.01*, 7. Lincoln Crawford 17.06

300 meter hurdles — 1. Sawyer Wormald 41.29*

4x100 relay — 1. Lincoln Crawford, Braxton Nelson, Karcher Foley and Breckyn Kobbe 44.58*; 6. Harper Havron, David Stearns, Tristin Winninger and David Yates 46.4

4x400 relay — 3. Brayden Benander, Alex Werner, Sawyer Wormald and Korbyn Warren 3:37.91; 8. David Stearns, Michael Stensing, Thomas Shuman and Nathan Varian 4:07.56

High jump — 1. Braxton Nelson 5-11

Long jump — 1. Braxton Nelson 21-11*, 4. Caden Nelson 20-9, 6. Karcher Foley 19-9 1/4, 10. Tristin Winninger 18-3 1/4, T13. Braxton Batt 17-4, 16. David Yates 17-3, 19. Alex Werner 16-9 1/2, 25. Tucker Phillips 15-11, 39. Austin Weller 10

Triple jump — 9. Braxton Batt 35-2

Shot put — 15. Gabe McMillin 39-7, 16. Levi Cox 38-11, 17. Kaden Wolff 38-10 1/2, 18. Brady Harvey 38-8, 22. Conner Farwell 37-4, 29. James Emmett 35-1 1/2, 49. Dane Smith 28-10 1/2, 56. Eli Bear 27-1 1/2, 63. Andrew Walker 25-0 1/2, T67. Conner Lohrenz 23-1

Discus — 4. Brady Harvey 131-7, 9. Kaden Wolff 114-10, 23. Levi Cox 97-6, 25. James Emmett 96-9, 38. Dane Smith 82, 44. Conner Farwell 80, 45. Gabe McMillin 79-1, 57. Andrew Walker 65, 61. Conner Lohrenz 62-1, 66. Eli Bear 56-8